python-libvin

libvin is a python library which can decode Vehicle Identification Numbers.

Currently it can exctract these informations:

• Country
• If the vehicle was build before 2010
• If there is less than 500 of this vehicle model built per year
• Region
• Vehicle Descriptor Section
• Vehicle Identifier Sequence
• Vehicle Sequential Number
• World Manufacturer Identifier
• Year of the vehicle model

This is a work in progress and my only source of information about the many VIN standards is a half baked Wikipedia article. So don't expect it to be perfect.

Feel free to contribute !

Low level API example

>>> from libvin.decoding import Vin
>>>
>>> v = Vin('2A4GM684X6R632476')
>>> v.region
north_america
>>> v.country
Canada
>>> v.year
2006
>>> v.manufacturer
Honada Canda
>>> v.is_pre_2010
True
>>> v.wmi
2A4
>>> v.vds
GM684X
>>> v.vis
6R632476
>>> v.vsn
632476
>>> v.less_than_500_built_per_year
False

Methods

Method	Description
country	Manufacturer's country
is_pre_2010	If the vehicle was build before 2010
less_than_500_built_per_year	If there is less than 500 of this vehicle model built per year
region	Region
vds	Vehicle Descriptor Section
vis	Vehicle Identifier Sequence
vsn	Vehicle Sequential Number
wmi	World Manufacturer Identifier
year	Year of the vehicle model

Standards

There are at least four competing standards used to calculate VIN.

• FMVSS 115, Part 565: Used in United States and Canada
• ISO Standard 3779: Used in Europe and many other parts of the world
• SAE J853: Very similar to the ISO standard
• ADR 61/2: used in Australia, referring back to ISO 3779 and 3780

Here's a breakdown of the most common types:

ISO 3779

1 2 3 | 4 5 6 7 8 9 | 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
-----   -----------   -----------------------
|       |             |
|       |             Vehicle Identifier Section
|       |
|       Vehicle Descriptor Section
|
World Manufacturer Idendified

European Union & North America (>500 vehicles/year)

1 2 3 | 4 5 6 7 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 13 14 15 16 17
-----   ---------   -   --   --   -----------------
|       |           |   |    |    |
|       |           |   |    |    Sequential Number
|       |           |   |    |
|       |           |   |    Plant Code
|       |           |   |
|       |           |   Model Year
|       |           |
|       |           Check Digit
|       |
|       Vehicle Attributes
|
World Manufacturer Idendified

European Union & North America (<500 vehicles/year)

1 2 3 | 4 5 6 7 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 13 14 | 15 16 17
-----   ---------   -   --   --   --------   --------
|       |           |   |    |    |          |
|       |           |   |    |    |          Sequential Number
|       |           |   |    |    |
|       |           |   |    |    Manufacturer Identifier
|       |           |   |    |
|       |           |   |    Plant Code
|       |           |   |
|       |           |   Model Year
|       |           |
|       |           Check Digit
|       |
|       Vehicle Attributes
|
World Manufacturer Idendified

References

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_Identification_Number
• http://www.nisrinc.com/include/common/VIN.html